Senate immigration plan gets tough on border security

It’s being overshadowed by gun control today, but a new Wall Street Journal report highlights some tough border enforcement measures being pushed by senators crafting the comprehensive immigration plan.

“Immigrants in the U.S. illegally would not gain green cards under a bipartisan Senate bill until law-enforcement officials are monitoring the entire southern border and stopping 90% of people crossing illegally in certain areas, according to people familiar with the plan.

…

Along the U.S.-Mexican border, 100% of the border would have to be under surveillance, and law enforcement would have to catch 90% of those who cross the border illegally at ‘high risk’ sections—a term that people following the Senate talks did not define. In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security reported that only 44% of the border was under operational control, meaning officials had the ability to detect and block illegal activity there.”

Many critics of immigration reform are simply skeptical that border security will ever be enforced. Let’s see if this language makes its way into the bill.